The Big League
by Eria
Summary: Another spectacular Host Club outing, members only, leads to a disastrous ending. First POV from Kyouya. Slight crossover with Yami no Matsuei. Supporting Original Characters inside.
1. Pitcher's mound

_Update for 9/06/07: For new or old readers, I have a sequel up called "The Death Order". If you want more Kyouya-centric ficcage, go read it. It's a continuation from this one. :) _

_Author's note: Hi all. I'm sorry I can't continue other stories yet, since the computer's busted and I didn't make backups. I thought this story would please some of you. :) I hope you enjoy!_

* * *

The week before the incident began as many of my Sundays began. Precisely at noon I arose and made myself presentable for the daily brunch ritual my father insisted that my brothers and I attend in a mannerly fashion. That is, when Tamaki didn't interrupt early in the day before the designated meal with his helpless imagination as it sought out a medium to make them reality. Seeing as how the Suou empire still outranked the Ootori's, Father didn't mind time spent on the likeliest heir. 

Both being fixed early risers and having eaten two hours prior, my brothers ate very small portions and chose to spend the majority of their time reading whatever piqued their interest, while father spoke to me about the trivial matter of who would do what when he would be succeeded. I coldly noted to myself that he would have an unsettling surprise when I finally admitted to having other investments, and that he could keep the family business he worked so hard to train me to support. Our plates emptied, and the meal was adjourned.

As I ascended the staircase towards my bedroom, my cellphone rang a well-known tune. I answered with a quick flick of my wrist, holding it a good half-metre away from my ear.

"KYOUYAHHHHHHH!!!" His voice called out estastically, 20 decibels too high, "I have the MOST fantastic idea!"

He did not pause for me to ask what had stimulated his energetic nature; he never did. Instead, as was his preference he rambled on in vehement enthusiasm about the greatness of what I expected to be a relatively mundane activity, but something that he hadn't yet had the pleasure to experience. I could only surmise that it had to do with a commoner sport of some sort. The moment he stopped to breathe, I found my opening.  
"And what is the 'fantastic' commoner activity du jour? Rugby?"

"Non, NON, mon ami! That's too violent to be a gentlemen's sport!"  
He actually paused as if waiting for me to guess again, but I didn't have the faintest idea what he had been rambling about the past ten minutes.  
"Baseball, Kyouya. BASEBALL!!"

Thankfully, I hadn't made the mistake of placing the phone back on my ear for I knew he would commence his over-euphoric yelling anew. After another five minutes passed and he had calmed down to have a conversation at a normal speaking level, I wrestled an approximate date and location from him because I would arrange the event.

It was always like that. Tamaki was hopeless in follow-through.

Luckily we were in the midst of Tokyo's baseball season, so it was not difficult to arrange for tickets for the next baseball game in Meiji Jingu Stadium in downtown Tokyo. Tamaki of course had insisted that we seat ourselves in the far right field arena in a commoner's row. Trying to dissuade him because of how rowdy the crowd could get, he had brushed my warnings aside. Little matter, since I had also arranged that my security troupe be around if a situation developed beyond the control of Haninozuka and Morinozuka. Knowing that by the end of week Tamaki would convince our fellow Hosts that it was an outing not to miss, I had bought tickets for all members of the club, and created an ingeniously simple blackmail in case the Club President could not sway the 'Natural' type, who tended towards stubbornness.

In the meantime I busied myself with the usual dallies of the Host Club, keeping a tab of all workings of our clientele, which included all students within Ouran High School and their friends and family, naturally. Very preoccupied with this matter and club finances, I hardly had time to properly host. Attending all required formals and answering all letters of love with the words of an uninterested bachelor, I never did participate fully in the charade. Sitting down with a client to hold a discourse of genteel conversation was beyond my level of patience, especially with the flitty nature of the budding female youth. However, I had greater duties to attend to and subsequently our President was forced to long ago forgive me for my slight.

By the time the baseball game was to start in four hours, I was well-versed with the stadium's blue print and the types of people who would surround us in the stands.

The Ootori family security force had handled the small, but arduous task of flipping through a roster of 32,376 people who had prepaid tickets, and making certain that the dangerous cretins would not be in attendance. Haninozuka and Morinozuka were briefed separately of the possible troublemakers near us by the Head of Security, while I suggested to Tamaki that our club not attract attention by renting commoner brand cars and letting our drivers drive them, and that our club members wear appropriate clothing. Tamaki of course jumped on the 'appropriate clothing' part of my statement and harassed Haruhi mercilessly, while she did her best to set a stony expression. I adjusted my glasses pleased that everything was going as planned like clockwork, and though the Hitachiin brothers grinned impishly I felt secure that all known dangerous factors had been removed. After all, one could call the Twins harmful to one's health, but not destructive, if one were well-acquainted with them.

Thus we were set for an interesting turn of events which always occurred around Tamaki. However, I was unaware that I was to die exactly at 3:43 that afternoon.


	2. Up to bat

_Author's notes:! Hope you all enjoy the chapter (worked extra hard since having no computerat home makes it harder to write). Thanks for reviewing/reading! Oh also, you can look up the snack foods on wiki if you want. I've actually tried all of them that I used in the story except for the korokke. :3 Melon Ramune is too bitter for me!_

* * *

Two hours before the game started, my head began to hurt. However, I had a high tolerance for pain and a small headache would not stop me from attending the outing. I was quite accustomed to them as they were frequent, but they never gave me anything more than a foul mood. Besides, I was perfectly fit in every respect thanks to my father's insistence that the Ootoris maintain a healthy lifestyle. We were a family of doctors and as the leading company in the medical field, he explained, a need to be a shining example of healthcare came with the business. I ate well, exercised daily, and had a set sleep schedule, though I sometimes encountered insomnia. 

This headache though was unusual in that it seemed to exude the pressure that only the Sea of Japan in its entirety could cause. Only Haruhi dared to pierce my suddenly stormy mood with proffered painkiller, which I brushed off with a curt word or two having already taken twice the amount suggested.

Placing two fingers above my nose on my forehead, I was puzzled at the timing and persistence of the headache, chancing a moment to close my eyes from the acute light from outside. Perhaps Nekozawa-senpai experienced recurrent migraines and that prevented him from enjoying any form of light, though frustratingly his secrets were as well kept as mine. After the painkiller failed to take effect, I had deduced that my headache could be nothing less than a small migraine. If it lasted for much longer, I promised to excuse myself from the outing to check into one of the many hospitals my family owned. Uncommon migraines were not something to be trifled with.

"Tamaki, I think he's sick. You should call this off until he's feeling better." I overheard her say. Retaliating to this statement before Tamaki could answer, I met his gaze firmly with the dangerous glint he was all too familiar with; Cowed, he bent his head weakly answering. "But he spent all that time preparing for this… Would you be the one to ruin his fun?"

"All the more reason for us to postpone it! Look at how pale he is, and you call him your friend!"

"Lord, she has—"  
"A point."

As usual, Hikaru was the first to speak, and Kaoru the second.

"Our 'mother' wouldn't want to be left out of 'her' children's activities, no?" They said together teasingly.

As the pressure lifted, the dull haze of pain that had settled on my mind, too, lifted; I adjusted my glasses. Not for the first time, did I wonder why they, Tamaki included, insisted that my position was maternal. Though their inference was unthreatening as I decidedly considered my position to be paternal, I didn't care enough to make it an issue; besides it amused me to play the 'mother' to Tamaki's 'father'.

Haninozuka-senpai expressed similar sentiment to Haruhi even as I felt my color come back to my face. With the time ticking away, all that was left to do was to board the nondescript van and seat ourselves in the stadium.

"While I appreciate the concern, it is unwarranted and unneeded, Hani-senpai. Take your 'Bun-Bun' back." Scanning my eyes over the group, I turned to the van raising a hand for them to follow. They brooked no argument as I boarded first through the sliding door that my driver held open for me. As I gazed out the window sitting rigidly in the seat, an open compact notebook and pen in hand, they chattered all the way to the stadium; despite this I was hardly able to extract anything novel about my fellow Hosts because I only had half-an-ear on their conversation. I was too concerned about the migraine; logic dictated that I should seek medical help since I had no history of such a headache before. It could simply be stress, I responded; my worry melted in defeat.

Shielding my eyes from the bright sunlight and ignoring the quotidian rabble around us, I stepped out of the vehicle and glanced at my watched: 2:57 p.m. I had miscalculated the amount of time that the drive was to take coupled with Tamaki's ardent assertion that to fully enjoy the game we had to buy high-calorie snack foods that lacked any notable nutritional value. Thus with cheap paper trays of takoyaki skewered with wooden toothpicks or patties of korokke carefully wrapped in economical waxed paper in one hand and different varieties of commoner beverage in the other, we squeezed between people to our seats. By then, the first pitch had already been thrown, but that didn't seem to bother Tamaki, though I neglected to inform him that we had missed the opening ceremony. There was another loud clack of wood and the crowd erupted into a frenzy of cheers and jeers.

"Whoa, did you see that?!" The club president exclaimed gleefully as the outfielder lunged over the fence to catch a ball on its course out of the field; the outstretched glove fell short of the ball. "Amazing! Bravo!!"

"Tch! He missed the ball, lord, that's not 'amazing'." One of the twins commented disdainfully, probably Hikaru, since he was more into athletics than his younger brother; his teeth tore into his deep-fried patty. By deduction then, it was Kaoru who countered with "It was still a good play. Would you have played as hard against a better team?"

The response was a roll of the eyes. "Why play a silly game like this in the first place?"

"Is it silly?" Kaoru's eyebrow raised, implying something entirely different as he drank from his Melon Ramune bottle, the clinking of the glass marble drowned out by another cheer from the crowd. Surprisingly he had had no difficulty in opening the strange design of the commoner carbonated drink, and I had duly noted it down.

"It's a home run!" Haninozuka interrupted, bouncing up as he squealed happily, his bunny hugged tightly against his chest. Morinozuka held out a stick of takoyaki when Hani-senpai leaned over mouth opened in hungry demand and quickly snatched a ball of fried octopus from it with deft lips. "Yummy! But…" Shifting his bunny over, he shoved his hand into a pocket and unwrapped the lollipop he procured one-handed, giggling as he lapped at it. "Better!"

Completely oblivious to the exchange of the Twins to the right of her and the pair of senpai next to them, or maybe she was deliberately ignoring them, the commoner of our group had a book about cooking traditional dishes cracked open, half of her own korokke consumed; the can of Pocari Sweat unopened and abandoned at her feet.

Realizing that a member was not participating in the 'mandatory' duties of a Host Club activity, Tamaki's eyebrows reached his hairline, mouth flapping open and arm coming down to point at her. Smirking, I poised my pen for Tamaki's lecture, even as I listened to Hikaru loudly and bluntly declare, when the teams switched defensive and offensive sides of the field in the second inning, that the team in the outfield would "mop the floor with the other team" because of how badly the other team was playing. Having already guessed that conclusion based on the individual teams' stats, I had bet on the superior team. I was more than confident that the team I had chosen would win; the second inning was only half as long as the first, and that team had seven home runs more than the other when the third inning began.

"Haruhi!" The French native pleaded discontentedly, but never got further; his voice overrode by the explosion of movement and noise from the crowd around us. Meanwhile, Hani-senpai screamed, gestured wildly, and stamped his feet happily in tandem with the masses, Mori-senpai smiling regardless of the noise.

"What happened! What happened?! Hey! I missed it!!" The president's head whipped up, turning this way and that quickly.

"A masterful save!" Kaoru hollered over the racket, while Hikaru scowled and yelled about luck.

Seeing the idiot's expression worsen from confusion to bafflement, I began to explain vociferously over the din of the boisterous throng that the batter had bunted the ball, the pitcher had caught it in midair, and then passed it to the third baseman who tapped the offensive team's runner out. "Two outs in one play," I elucidated, "that's why everyone's in a state of excitement."

During my explanation, there was a clack! of leather on wood again, presumably the new batter; another cry rang out this time full of eager jubilance. "FOUL BALL!!!!" If it was a tight fit earlier, it was certainly claustrophobic now as the aisles filled up and swarms of hands rose above us like greedy, sticks of unnaturally fast-growing bamboo, a canopy of fingers and palms outstretched.

Anticipating the stray ball, I blocked my head nonchalantly trying to determine where the ball would fall, but the angle of the sun was proving difficult to the senses. I frowned.

"Kyouya!!" I turned to Tamaki, who stood next to me, a quizzical look on my face, dropping my arm a little to get a better view of his expression; at that moment the ball slammed into my exposed cranium. My glasses gone and my ears ringing, I was unsteady but able to remain standing. It was no good; a torrent of people overcame me pushing me under them as they climbed. At least a dozen hands groped and many more feet crushed me as they frantically shoved each other out of the way for the ball that rolled under the chair behind where I had sat. I was overwhelmed by panic as I fell back, asphyxiating from the crushing weight of numerous people clamoring above me. It would have been rotten if I died underfoot a stampede of peons.

In that respect, I was lucky. I was dead before then.


	3. The Pitch

_Author's notes: Hello again. Thanks for reading and special thank you to the reviewers. :) Sorry the update was a little slow, but the chapter is a bit longer than the others. XD;_

_Jo is "an informal unit of area used in Japan to measure the size of rooms in houses and apartments. One jo is the area of a traditional tatami mat, 180 by 90 centimeters or 1.62 square meters (1.94 square yards)." ganked from "A Dictionary of Units of Measurements". The rest of the foreign words are easily googled._

* * *

It would have been what I expected if I had ceased to be a minute after I drew my final breath. 

It was not.

The chaos simply amplified tenfold. A plethora of noise intermingling with screams of my given name. There, the pool of commoners were pulling away from the scene empty-handed, while the remaining few fought for the well-deserved ball; the body crumpled only a metre away from them. I preferred to keep professional distance about the personal significance of that particular corpse.

While it was Tamaki who had made it to the body first, the only person with any wits about them was Haruhi as she checked my vitals and began the cardiopulmonary resuscitation process. The Hitachiin brothers gaped uselessly most likely emotionally frozen by shock, while the upperclassmen were barring entry to curious gawkers and morbid rubber-neckers. As my family's private squad relieved the upperclassmen from their positions, I couldn't help the chuckle that leaked from between my lips. I had been eloquently shown the continued incompetence of the Ootori private police force. Even after being retrained at my father's expense they had failed to do their job. He would see this incident as a grave misdemeanor, and most likely replace the lot of them.

"I don't believe this!" Hikaru yelled angrily. "They ran all over him. I'll kick their—!" A sharp elbow to his side from his twin silenced him, and his mouth clamped shut when he looked over to where Kaoru subtly pointed.

"Kyou..ya?" With a light whisper, the idiot continued to stare at the body, seeing through Haruhi's frustrated counting and pumping of arms as she attempted to keep the brain oxygenated though the heart had stopped. His legs had given out when his mind finally understood what his eyes were witnessing.

In hindsight, it was a failure in setup as well. I hadn't thought to place more than few of the private police any nearer than the aisle seats around us. Ultimately, it proved to be a lethal mistake of the ego. I could only be glad that not one of the other Hosts met their demise or were injured.

The special student continued her fruitless endeavor, labored breathing aside. Shaking his head, Morinozuka stopped Haninozuka halfway through his offer to take over for her. She was stubbornly fixated on reviving the body. Astonishment radiated from the body language of the observing Twins as they passively moved aside for the emergency personnel to pass.

"Shouldn't he have come to by now?" I overheard one of them mutter. There was no response.

Working as a synched team, two split from the team of EMTs, one to gently usher Tamaki back for the other two to work, while the other softly clasped Haruhi's shoulder to get her attention. When she paused, she was helped to her feet and likewise led away in a daze.

The two remaining set to work. One quickly checked the body's vitals and the other placed the heavy bag he had carried with him down. Opening the bag, he pulled out an oxygen mask with a bulb and checked the mouth for obstruction. With marked precision, he used an airway to slip the tube into the throat and strapped the oxygen mask to the face. Pulling the stethoscope out of her ears, the one checking the vitals signaled the normal breathing-compression count for CPR, overlapped her fingers, and began thrusting in the center of the breastbone, stopping after every twenty for the other to 'breathe' with a simple pressure applied to the bulb. I was pleased with their efficiency, though it was obvious to me that I was dead.

"He's alright, isn't he, Haruhi? Isn't he??" His expressive tone caught my attention immediately, sounding naively hopeful. In the process of falling down the blanket clung around his shoulders giving him the appearance of a lost child. He completely ignored the proffered bottle of water by the paramedic temporarily in charge of their health.

"I… don't think so." She tightly pulled her own blanket more securely around her. Her knuckles were white from the grip, and her face was distant. Even so she thanked the paramedic for the water, though she didn't open it. She was reacting to the trauma within the normal bounds of my expectations. Tamaki, however, wasn't.

The smile he had worked to place on his face fell as his lips twitched. He tugged at his hair ineffectually, the rawness of his emotions threatening to tumble out. He rambled on about how I had seemed very healthy and it was only a ball and a ball shouldn't have that effect right?

I didn't want to watch him fall apart. I turned away in time to see them cart the body away to the field where a helicopter was primed to fly to the hospital, where I was certain I'd be considered dead the moment a doctor saw it.

"Where are they taking him?! He's going to be ok, right?!! KYOUYA!!!"

Morinozuka had to restrain him from running down the long stairway down the stadium leading to the playing field.

"My Lord, calm down. The paramedics told us where he's being taken." The Twins, breaking their silence with the aim to comfort, were unintentionally unhelpful in that they spurned his recklessness.

"Then let's go THERE!!" Standing, I could only watch the scene unfold before me, as the blades roared through the air above us. As an unseen onlooker, it was little wonder to me why the stories of spirits were either violent fairytales or hopeless tales of lingering.

"We'd be in their way." She stated very calmly, her face devoid of expression.

"Haruhi! You don't care??! We need to go see him, and we don't have to be in the way to do that." The resounding smack was quickly swallowed by the noise of the commoners. He fell silent, red tinging his cheek where he'd been slapped.

"He's DEAD." The tears she had been repressing fell effortlessly down her face.

I watched his expression as he inwardly argued and denied it. He went through nearly every stage of mourning in less than a minute, except for the last step. While Haruhi had accepted, he hadn't. He worked to say something intelligible, but was spared when Haninozuka cleared his throat, eyes unusually bright.

"Tama-chan, Haru-chan, everyone… let's go."

Huddled together and surrounded by the Ootori police force, they walked out with as much dignity they could muster. Limousines were waiting for them to board.

I hesitated, and Tamaki's limousine with Haruhi inside drove away, followed quickly by the Hitachiins. I did not want to stand around the stadium and wait for whatever event was to happen next. While it was true that death had humbled me by showing me my own ignorance, I would not like to head into whatever was in store for me without proper study of my situation.

Quickly slipping into the limo behind the much shorter blonde, I sat on the opposite side as Morinozuka clambered in. Sitting close to one another, they uttered not a single word but the atmosphere felt as if they had an entire conversation. Once arrived at their destination, I followed them out of the car and into the dojo the Haninozukas owned in search of knowledge. For the children with no ability in martial arts, they would have special talents elsewhere. For the Haninozukas, this was their onmyouji, though I hardly had believed in that sort of thing when I was alive. The connection was most serendipitous now.

For once I ignored the polite customs of removing one's shoes before entering; I was keenly sensitive of the possibility that clothes or items I removed from my person would disappear inexplicably. I had also narrowly sidestepped the confusion that I felt corporeal and not wraithlike, and that I was wearing the Ouran High School uniform and not my casual clothing I had originally died in.

I had visited this place only twice in my life, and yet the floor plan was as I recalled.

We entered a large room, probably 30 jo by 10 jo. The shōji were opened to let the spring breeze cool the room. Elder Haninozuka sat at the far end sitting seiza sipping tea and gazing into the inner garden.

"Mitsukuni-kun, you have brought a visitor for your grandfather?"

"Yes, honorable Grandfather."

The old man was blind. I had always assumed he was somewhat insane, but now I understood. Spirits existed and he could see them.

His grin curled his wrinkled lips as he chuckled. "Only the dead do not remove their shoes at the door's threshold. I'm surprised you followed that superstition. Have a seat."

That was not why I left my shoes on, but he was right about it being a superstition. He gestured towards the vacant cushion, which had remained vacant the only time I had met him as he spoke to thin air. I sat down mirroring his position, legs and feet folded and tucked neatly beneath me.

The old man hummed as he took another sip from his cup and placed it on its holder, and my upperclassmen left the room. "So tell me, Ootori-kun. Was your death too swift to grab hold of you or was it a shock due to your age?"

"I wouldn't know. I'm no expert in matters of the supernatural."

He let out a sigh of chortles. "Pragmatic to the end, eh? Do you have any regrets?"

"Pardon?" I didn't understand why that was important.

"Regrets can hold you back from the place where spirits go. Sometimes, it's not regret, but the quickness of death that anchors the spirit, unable to affect reality or pass to the afterlife. If there is no easy resolve, then a guide will eventually appear to light the way."

"Are you—?"

He laughed sharply interrupting the question before my mouth fully formed it, and took another long sip of tea. "No. I can communicate with the dead and facilitate passage only by speaking to spirits to help them find the closure they need. I leave exorcisms to guides and priests... I suggest you take the easy track and resolve whatever regrets you hold now and move on."

There was a veiled threat undercurrent to his tone.

"What happens if I don't?"

"The longer you stay in perpetual discontent between worlds, the more your self fades, until you are reduced to a raging, senseless ghost. Something so barely recognizable that it's hard to believe they were once a person."

Hundreds of questions asked to be shared, but I felt like I had little time.

"If you're wondering about my grandsons, they cannot see or hear you, but they could feel you. They waited for you, and you instinctively went with them."

"Ah. Instinct."

The old man seemed very amused by me. "There are many things within this world that cannot be explained by logic, young Ootori-kun. If you have nothing else to ask me, it's alright to wander around until your funeral."

"Could you be the go-between…" The words died on my lips at the look I was given, and I smiled bitterly. "Of course, foolish thing to want." I stood up straightening my outfit from habit. Even if he were to relay the message to Tamaki, it would doubtfully improve the situation especially with very little time after my death. The Elder would be seen as a vulture preying on mourners, not as an intermediary to the spirit world. I was fairly certain that the others would calm him down, since they would be handling my death far easier by my predictions. "Thank you for your hospitality."

"Indeed, indeed. Come to see me if you wish to. An old man has so few friends left alive." With that he turned back to stare wordlessly into the garden. A bell tinkled lightly when a breeze brushed by its paper tail, but it left my hair undisturbed.

The next day was excruciatingly boring; I visited the Elder a few times but left each time more unsatisfied than the last. Then, time was spent around Haninozuka when he was practicing after school, since he acknowledged my presence with a verbal greeting and would tell me how the others were faring.

The Twins, initially had seemed alright, but as time passed they had begun to withdraw back into their world little by little. Haruhi had missed a day of school, claiming illness, while Tamaki had issued an ultimatum that would end the Host Club within a week, which was about the span of time that he could execute events he had already planned under my consultation. Any longer than that and the Host Club would inevitably become bankrupt.

However, the secondhand information quickly became unsatisfactory as it was broad and over-generalized and because there were no means in which I could feasibly ask him specific questions in private, _id est_ without his grandfather present. However, it had been amusing to discover that he was more sensitive than his grandfather suggested; an ethereal poke easily sent him into a fit of giggles. Otherwise, I had no effect on other people, even Morinozuka, or objects around me. Never growing hungry or sleepy also did nothing to improve my mood. All I had in the world now were my thoughts and setting them into motion was dreary. I could observe and gather all the data I wanted, but what good was that if I couldn't use it?

That night, I overheard that my funeral would be held the next day. If my father had not followed my instructions…

"Elder, may I enter?" I knelt by the door with my head humbly bowed.

He opened the door, and stepped back respecting my personal space even though I no longer took up space in 'real' terms.

"What is your request, Ootori-kun?"

Sitting down with my legs politely folded beneath me I tilted forward in a bow.

"Please have Haninozuka-senpai escort me to my house."

He arranged the sleeves of his kimono easily as he raised a hand towards me in a halting gesture. "Now? But your funeral preparations are already done."

"Please." I bowed until my glasses were barely above the floor, and my hands were flattened and spread to support me.

"I'm very curious as to what you plan to do, but I don't mind granting a last request."

"Thank you. Could you please tell him everything I am about to impart onto you?"

The Elder nodded, and I carefully outlined what Haninozuki was supposed to say upon meeting my father. When I finished, he smiled. "Your request is well-thought out. I do not mind my grandsons carrying this out for you, but you need not be in attendance."

I frowned, having known prior that if he refused I could not coerce him. "Why?"

"It is an ill omen for the dead to visit their family the night of their funeral."

It was a silly reason, but my request would be carried out as I had asked, provided I stayed put. I bid him good night and he opened the door for me to leave even though I was perfectly capable of passing through the walls.

"Ootori-kun, I sincerely advise you not go visit your family."

"I understand." I carefully controlled my facial expression. I despised not being in control, but I could not soundly foresee the repercussions of my own actions in this 'in-between' world like a child who was just beginning to grow a sense of reality.

Ultimately, I did as he asked, doing little more than wander the grounds as mind-numbing as that was. The next day appeared in a brilliant sunrise of color. As the sun rose higher, I could tell that the day was going to be bright and cheery, perfect weather for a funeral procession.


	4. Ahead in the Count

_Author's notes: I've never read the manga of OHSHC, just to let you guys know. I made Kyouya's family background up. Thanks for the review oh "generic" reviewer. Enjoy! (edited: 5/13/07)_

* * *

When I was in fourth grade, I decided that there was no such thing as a soul and that superstition was for fools. Until I became a spirit, I had never seen any 'proof' to change my mind. Note however, that by completely erasing the concept of a soul, it was easy to leave unanswerable questions of philosophy alone, such as the purpose of life or what happens after death. Mistaken assumptions aside, my current frustration with death was that people numb to the presence of free-standing souls far outnumbered those who could. I had found only one who could act as my link. 

The Elder perceived my predicament of in-between to be a grave misfortune and since it had been urgent to ensure that my will would be done, my sudden excessive humility towards the wily old man was necessary. Being as astute as he was, the Elder knew I would have notified my classmates of my intentions directly if I could have, since they would have been invited as former close classmates. It was simply common sense to relay the message to him.

Coincidentally, I did not have to wait long for the results I was expecting. A few hours after the sun had risen, Haninozuka and Morinozuka had sought me out to personally thank me for their new possessions they had received at the wake the night before. Had they not unintentionally let me know that my orders had at least been partially followed, I might have been annoyed with my father.

Haninozuka started with a deep bow, thanking me for the sizeable box of experimental cross-cultural sweets that were a culmination of the cooperation of several of the best pastry chefs in Japan and France, adding sadly that it was poor replacement for me. I read uncomfortable silence from the other senior, but with a gentle conversational prod from Hani-senpai, a distressed Morinozuka remarked on the fine craftsmanship of his new 'ceremonial' katana, expressing his gratitude with few words. It was quite illegal to own a real katana without a permit, but the kendo national champion should be able to handle a mere 'prop' if need be.

The tense awkward silence that followed irritated me. I ran my fingers down Haninozuka's arm to make things interesting. He leaned over into a spasmic fit of giggles. Morinozuka's tear-roughened voice chuckled in relief at his cousin's sensitive reaction.

"I miss you." He stated it very calmly; his brief bout of laughter having vanished with only the hint of a smile on his face. "I wanted to tell the others…" The way his eyes shifted to Haninozuka spoke volumes.

"Takashi. The only one who would believe us would be Tama-chan, but he would have mentioned nasty things like curses. Everyone else writes spirit-sensing off as foolishness. Kyou-chan was the same way, right?"

The larger senior nodded.

At that moment, the Elder chose to step into view in a black funeral kimono trimmed in white, his gray-white hair pulled back into a high, tight ponytail, and an aide at his side; if his attire wasn't an obvious enough clue that he would be leaving the Haninozuka property, the aide was. "It was a long night for you two helping stand guard, yet the day is not over." With set expressions they bowed slightly, excusing themselves, and exited the private garden.

"It's time, Ootori-kun."

I was escorted to the car and taken to the place where the ceremony was supposed to be held. Though unprepared to intimately recognize the area we passed, I was not unsettled to see my house in view as the driver pulled us into the long driveway. I hadn't specified where the somber event was to be held, but neither was I expecting my former place of residence. However, I took it to be a good indication, considering that I had requested that the funeral be a private affair. The smaller number of guests could easily fit into our audience room.

The limousine stilled, and I disembarked after the Elder. The aide closed the door behind me after the old man delicately twitched his dominant forefinger, a sign so natural that it was easy to miss. The relaxed way he signaled lent to the notion that he had done this many times before. Greeted as reverently as he was at the door, I was startled that it was my father who had called to him. He looked unwell, sickly; in only three days his face showed a tightness to it that could only be a sign of insomnia.

"My letter didn't cause upset in your schedule, I hope?" The Elder asked softly.

"No. My son was surprisingly well-prepared. A lawyer appeared after the public was notified and handed me his sealed will." His tone had the torn, raw edge of bereavement.

"Your son will find peace. Please do not worry so much, lest you upset him by following him to the grave."

"I doubt that my death would upset him. Please, this way."

The Elder roved his eyes in my direction with a barely noticeable quirk of his wrinkled eyebrow.

I let out an irritated breath. "The will had an accompanying letter."

He continued on as if I had said nothing. It only occurred to me then that I might have been too frank and critical of my father when I wrote it, but I felt no remorse for writing what needed to be said.

As I followed them, registering the neat, tastefully expensive swaths of black cloth knotted with white in a repetitive pattern hanging along the walls, it was apparent that perhaps my understanding of my father was as false as his had been of me. There was little benefit to change my perception now, but it would be interesting to know how great the difference was. I was more concerned with how the other ex-Hosts were handling the grim situation.

Entering the audience room, it was predominantly a quiet suit-and-tie affair with no more than 40 people in attendance. I recognized a third to be extended family members. The rest were close friends of the Ootoris, precisely what I had asked for. My friends occupied the first row on the left side of the room, while my brothers, sister, father, mother, and sister's husband lined the first row on the right.

Behind their parents, a smattering of associates invited by my former classmates sat. My cousins, father's parents and mother's father were in the row behind my close family. Invited business associates or acquaintances of my father were in the row behind them.

The only empty seat in the room was for my maternal grandmother. She obviously still held a grudge against my father for divorcing his unfaithful wife, or rather hated him for allowing his attorney do all the negotiating by merely showing her daughter the prenuptial agreement. In the case of infidelity, the pre-nuptial voided all rights of visitation by the mother and her relations to her son. The only stipend my mother had been awarded was enough to cover her lawyer and court fees as the prenuptial dictated.

The hushed whispering quieted when my father entered with the Elder behind him, and the Elder took his place seating the farthest away from the aisle on the second row behind Haninozuka, next to Ranka-san. His aide stood a few meters away, on the ready.

It was disappointingly ironic to discover that the trio of Buddhist priests in charge of the chanting ceremony was insensitive to my presence. Apparently spirit sensing was not a pre-requisite to becoming a priest. Regardless, I had been previously told by the Elder that I was supposed to attend since the ceremony was intended to send me off.

As the priest in traditional garb offered a prayer chant, first my father, then my siblings, one by one offered incense placing it upright in the jar of sand on the altar where the closed coffin was surrounded by plates of food and row upon row of white chrysanthemum, wrapped in wreaths or in artfully arranged compositions. These delicate flowers lined the two side walls of the room, from floor to ceiling and out. Obviously, my father had allowed business partners to place flowers in my honor though they were not present, and most likely with an exorbitant amount of money spent on their presentation.

Standing near the altar, having let my eyes pass blankly over my brothers, father, and mother, my sister knelt next to her husband, her hands clasped together and prayed for my rest, as he offered their incense. Rising slowly to her feet, she looked directly at me, stating softly. "Please find rest, Kyouya-san." Carefully she placed a blank look upon her face then smiled at her husband and sat in her chair, attempting to weep quietly. I had not had an inkling that she was superstitious let alone that she possessed the gift.

"You suck for dying." It was obviously Hikaru who said that and glared at my photo on the altar near the incense. I blinked away from my sister and turned my attention to the twins. The Hitachiin brothers looked miserably agitated, probably angered by the entire event. There had been no elbow nudge from Kaoru to keep Hikaru from being rude. "…because you were the best," he finished after a long pause.

"Rest well, Mother." Kaoru whispered. They both stiffly walked back to their seats as Haruhi replaced them to offer her own stick. She smiled sadly and attempted to offer a word or so, except she covered her face when the tears started to fall and said nothing, returning to her seat.

Wavering in the air before the thin fragrant stick was buried halfway into the jar, after releasing the incense Tamaki's hand clenched and shook convulsively against his side. He parted his lips only to bite them close and released a frustrated grunt, bending his head down a bit. It took a hand from Morinozuka behind him on his shoulder to ease him back towards his seat, then he also offered his own prayer with Haninozuka.

Next were my distant relatives. My father's parents had a self-satisfied glint in their eyes once faced towards the coffin, though they offered a polite word for my rest. Their attitude was hardly surprising, since father had disallowed them from any rights to his money, having changed his name. Our lineage is good, but our finances haven't always been the best. My maternal grandfather, whom I had never met before, had a sincere expression of sorrow on his overly wrinkled face. Next were two business-partnered cousins I had not had the chance to meet before. They had become nouveau riche through their entrepreneurship into foreign real estate, a perfect connection if my father were to go into the global market. The taller had a shock of bright red hair topping his head obviously dyed, and the other was of short stature and looked younger than me, though I knew he was a good ten years my senior. They stuck out as if they were misplaced, though I blamed it on their fashion sense.

Next were Suou-san, the twins' biological mother and grandmother, Ranka-san, the Elder Haninozuka and his aide.

Suou-san looked as drained as my father. His son must be faring worse than I anticipated. The Hitachiin relatives were respectful and soft-spoken, while Ranka-san bemoaned my loss and cried loudly, halting the ceremony of prayer and offering until a red-faced Haruhi could extricate him. The old man ran his eyes over me looking grim and serious for once, before murmuring his prayer wishing for my spirit's rest. As he turned back down the aisle, he pointedly faced towards the row of my family, bowed lightly, and then with the help of his aide, returned to his seat. The ex-frequenters of the Host Club were next, which included Houshakuji, Nekozawa, Kasanoda, and surprisingly Komatsuzawa of the newspaper club and his two subordinates. I had little interest in the gratitude and prayer of rest they offered me, so paid my attention toward my classmates' row. Most of them were fidgeting. The Hitachiin brothers were whispering to one another, while Haruhi smoothed out the wrinkles of her dress mechanically. Tamaki was gazing at no one in particular, and the upperclassmen were carefully poised as if on guard, which was curious. Then finally came my father's business associates with whom I had no interest at all.

Once everyone finished their offering, the sutra took little time to complete, and everyone flocked slowly to the adjoining room set for a banquet. Usually after the sutras, the funeral would be dismissed and only a few people would be present to accompany the body to the crematorium. However, as my death was unnatural and came before my potential could be fulfilled, the extra feast was permitted, especially since I would not be receiving a new Buddhist name. I expected as much since my father was a traditionalist in that regard and I had not cared one way or another.

I followed my friends into the annexed room, and hovered nearer to the insensitives noticing the watchful gaze of the Elder. Food was served by Ootori house staff. I was unaware at the time that I would cause the destruction of half of the house in less than an hour.


	5. Foul Ball

_A/N: Hi again. Thanks for the reviews as always, and thanks for reading. Japanese Buddhist funerals have great variation but for the most part there is a wake preceding the actual funeral, then a cremation follows the funeral. Sometimes the wake is right before the funeral in the same room on the same day. Condolences are given in terms of money to help the family pay for the funeral. In Kyouya's case, it's purely ceremonial to offer condolences since his family doesn't need the money. Generally, ten percent of the condolence money is given back in a form of a small 'thank you' gift which people then keep as a sentimental item to remember the dead by. Enjoy!_

* * *

There were two tables arranged where half of the room sat at one and the other half at the other. It unintentionally created an ironic dichotomy of two irrevocable sides of my life: my friends with its personal acquaintances and my family with its business associates. As the tables were separated by a span of two metres, there existed no place where I could observe guests from both sides at once. It was a simple choice. 

Behind the twins, I stood. They were the most active in the group though they kept their conversation to themselves, passing nostalgia of the memory of me between them. Most centered on the complexity of my family structure, saying it was no shock that I became what I became in such a stifling environment. I chuckled at them, since their environment had been relaxed despite the discordant relationships their mother had kept. Despite the loose atmosphere of their family life, they had been raised with cunning minds, yet because of their background they had a substantial lack of maturity to handle difficult situations. With time, they would be a duo to be reckoned in the fashion industry.

"Speaking of which, what snob writes their will at the age of 16?"

"Only someone as prepared as Kyouya. It's not so surprising if you think about it."

"God! If he were alive I wouldn't know if I'd deck him or hug him. Who the hell gives presents out on their wake! It's supposed to be the other way around!!"

"Hikaru, I know. We did give our condolence money just like everyone else—"

"Only to have it given back at more than five times what our gift was worth!" He restrained his hands from slamming on the table as his chest heaved in ire, releasing a compressed growl. The room's noise hushed for a moment at the Hitachiin's outburst. The noise resumed on the other side of the room, while their table remained silent.

"I was awarded a scholarship of the amount needed for tuition from the Ootori Medical Firm to redeem at any reputable University of Law until I earn my undergraduate degree." Haruhi hardly touched any of the food on her plate, and hadn't spoken until then. "Standing there, it was overwhelming. I couldn't even say 'thanks for the gift'."

Her classmates knew of her dream of becoming a lawyer, though they probably had not entertained it as seriously. I found their questioning or dumbstruck stares to be amusing as those looks were testimony that their image of Kyouya Ootori was transforming.

"We received nothing as spectacularly fitting as that. He gave us subscriptions to several online gaming accounts along with a next-gen prototype game console that one of his connections was developing. It's a remarkable piece of work." Kaoru commented.

Hikaru fidgeted and crossed his arms, having eaten enough presumably, but too irritated to talk. I thought it highly entertaining to watch him fidget uncomfortably. I had also given them, though they had neglected to share it with everyone else, a Haruhi-centric album. I suspected they hadn't burned it, or else they would have made some teasing note of my practical 'matchmaking' habits.

"I got French-Japanese desserts. They've been yummy!" Haninozuka finally looked a little cheerful though his demeanor was tense and had been tense since he had settled in his chair for the banquet. "And Takashi got a ceremonial sword! Yours' awesome, right?"

"Yea." He grunted in agreement.

Then they all looked expectantly towards Tamaki who had been staring listlessly at his plate for the past half hour. From the glazed look in his eyes and his inattention to their staring, it was apparent that he was inattentive to his surroundings.

"Tama-chan?"

"Hm?" He perked up slightly and realized that he was the center of attention.

"What did you get?"

"Nothing special." Tamaki's eyes dropped to his plate.

Suou-san unexpectedly answered for him. "His mother's location and a letter from Ootori-kun. Though, I expect you all received an individualized letter?"

They nodded.

"Your mother? That's great!"

"It won't bring him back. Nothing will."

"If his spirit is here, I'm sure he wouldn't rest until you were happy, Suou-chan," spoke the Hitachiin grandmother. "I've heard that you two were best friends."

"Best friends." His smile was thin and wane, and completely devoid of any deep feeling.

"Why, yes, Tamaki-chan! You two certainly were a pair." Ranka-san smiled full blast, though his own eyes were rimmed in red and his cheeks were stained with mascara as much as he had tried to wipe them clean.

"A pair?" He mimicked, but with a different tonal inflection implying something entirely different. "Please excuse me." He stood up abruptly and left in the direction of the bathroom, face dark.

"How bad has he gotten, Suou-san?" The Elder asked softly.

"He won't eat and he refuses to go to school. I'm afraid he's in danger of withdrawing."

The easygoing mood fled from their table like steam escaping from a boiling pot. I reached over and brushed my thumb over Hani-senpai's hand, ignoring the frown from the Elder.

Pandemonium ensued. He had tensed his hand as his body convulsed, giggling, spilling his tea which flowed and made a mess of Haruhi's dress, who stood up startled as her hand slapped down and flipped her plate up. Food from her plate flung across the table into the face Hitachiin-mother, who saw it coming and moved just enough to lose her balance and pull the trim of tablecloth down and with it everyone's tableware. Of course this only caused everyone on her side of the table to stand up as the silverware clanged and the expensive glazed porcelain plates shattered against the marble tile floor, not to mention the food and floral decorations.

I was laughing before the chain of events had ended in a spectacular mess. There was just something… gratifying of affecting a world one no longer inhabited. I twisted my lips into a semblance of a grin. At last, I understood why many ghosts became pranksters as well. There was so much power in affecting an otherwise untouchable world. The sharp look from the Elder was easily ignored as my mind raced on my short walk across the room towards my sister. Though seeing spirits did not necessarily entail hearing them, it seemed worthwhile to try. I couldn't stand the old man a second longer.

"Fuyumi-neesan."

She froze for all of a second before finishing what she had to say, shrinking some in her chair. Her husband had previously noticed her discomfort, leaned over and asked her if she needed some more tea. She nodded and sipped slightly from her cup; her hand was shaking.

"Would you grant me one last request?"

She stilled, setting her cup down, turning to smile at her husband. Her eyes flicked back to look at me, nodding imperceptibly. Her husband didn't notice.

I adjusted my glasses, floundering for the appropriate way to ask. I lacked a plan to achieve what I desired. I surveyed the table, looking across at my mother's frown at something her father had muttered near her, my eldest brother's imperceptive grimace and his younger but still-living brother's remark of reminisce, and finally father's lifeless, worn gaze that observed everything around him without letting the events sink in deeply enough. He looked beyond grief. A plan continued to gracefully escape me.

"My abilities of problem-solving seem to have faded somewhat. I need you to please find a way to convince Otousan that I did not mean to damage him so, by a flagrantly revealing letter." At that moment, my mind drifted to my former schoolmates' reactions; Tamaki stood out only because of his odd reactions and his spiraling descent into depression. There was no point thinking on it right now. "It would mean most coming from you."

She excused herself from the table mumbling about the bathroom, and exited the room, walking through the corridors into one of the more secluded parts of the house. She only turned to look at me after bobbing her head as she looked in different directions. "You know what it would sound like coming from me, little brother." Her smile was pained. "None of them know."

"I am not suggesting you tell him you can see me. I am saying that of all the family, you knew me best." I paused. A glimmer of a plan was finally developing as she hiccupped swallowing back tears. "You could say perhaps that I was in a mood and wrote a letter and you were worried it had fallen into his hands. Everyone knows well of your snooping habits. They were never ill-intended." I tilted my head and smiled for her.

She sniffled, rubbing at her eyes. "I don't know… but I'll do my best."

"Thank you." I felt part of the tension from my shoulders melt away.

"Um…" She said uncertainly, "I do want to know why you got stuck in such a state…?"

"I would like to know as well. I was fully aware of the inevitability of death, and had accepted it. I had no regrets until I viewed my father's and Tamaki's reactions."

"That _is_ strange from what I know only regret or shock keeps you……" She trailed off her eyes looking past me. Tamaki was standing twenty feet away staring at her, and then stared at the vase next to her which I was standing nearby.

Fuyumi bowed politely at Tamaki. "Good evening Suou-sama."

Quietly staring at her, he was unnerving. His energetic cheerful posturing had finally shattered and sifted away like sand from an hourglass. Finally he spoke, his tone warily suspicious. "Who were you talking to?"

"Ah….." She had always been a terrible liar. She was frantically looking around trying not to glance at me directly, crying out for help nonverbally.

I quirked my eyebrow amused. "The vase?"

She huffed at me, and placed an arm on her hip confidently. "I was talking to the vase next to my brother's soul—" She stopped suddenly covering her face in embarrassment.

That was a dramatic blunder, I noted to myself.

Tamaki's eyes widened slightly either wondering if she was crazy or telling the truth. "I see."

"Aha… Well…" She smiled uneasily, shuffling her weight from one foot to the other.

"Tell him he's interrupting a conversation, unless he wished to confess what he's been bothered about."

Determined no doubt to try to cheer him up, she straightened resolute, chastising him with a wag of her index finger. "You're interrupting my conversation, Suou-sama.. if you ah.. … Unless you had something you had to share with him?"

Unanswering, he stood there fixed to the spot for a full minute. He was on the verge of something, but he physically swallowed it down before his words surfaced. "No, there's nothing. Sorry for intruding." Then he left, his pace quick.

It suddenly occurred to me that I would have been satisfied with his confession whatever it would have held.

"You two were very…" My sister hesitated for a moment, probably because she often kept her own opinion on other's personal issues. "..close. I hadn't thought it was anything more than a very close friendship but… he is acting like he's heartsick. Kyouya, were—" Having turned to look at me with her quiet, nonjudgmental look, she had paused. "Takamine-san, this is a restricted section of the house."

The brightly red-colored hair that fell in long swaths over his ears, but was short in the back, swayed, when he tilted his head and smiled at her. He jutted his hip out to the side, elbows cocked out from his wrists that were pocketed with his hands. At that moment, I perceived qualities about him through his arrogant stance that I did not like.

"I'm sorry, lady." He said with no hint of malice. It was very rude nonetheless to speak without honorifics. "I'll let you be." He smiled again, and then he opened and entered another room.

"Ah.. sir that's… .." Ineffectually reaching out to Takamine as she had never been adept at being firmly aggressive, she watched him enter the hall closet. She lowered her voice. "I'll try talking to Father, but I think I might be missed by now."

"Thank you Fuyumi-neesan, for listening. For being there when I needed company." That was as close as I wanted to broach the subject of deep familial love, that alien word but familiar emotion.

"I love you too, little brother.." With another bow and brimming with tears, she left towards the banquet hall.

"Goodbye…" I said softly. I still wondered what she had been about to ask, though I assumed the question was along the lines of the actual relationship I had with Tamaki. Surprisingly there was none of the nature she was implying. As much as we visited each other and enjoyed each other's company that was a line of thought Tamaki hadn't entertained in his mind. I had only to brush off any sort of sexual attraction as easily as one could simply wipe dust off a table. I had done the same with Haruhi and countless others of interest. In the grand scope of things, one could say I wasn't interested in people but in fascinating ideas and odd circumstances.

"Aw, how sweet. Saying your goodbyes and all." A voice suddenly appeared on my right. My head jerked towards Takamine as he lifted a finger. I was automatically interested in what that flash of light was, and what other abilities this rude miscreant obviously possessed. He could, at least, pass through walls. A visible ghost? A spirit guide?

"But you seem lost, little soul. Don'tcha?" He was clasping his hands together in an unusual fashion similar to how a Buddha priest would.

"How could I be lost in my own house?" I smiled. He hadn't yet proved to be anything but bad-mannered and moronic. How he had passed as my entrepreneurial cousin was appalling proof of what state my father was in.

He made a noise, and his grin twitched. "Damn. That's not what I meant. Hm. Ok I guess I'll play it by the book." Straightening his jacket as he changed his pose and demeanor into a threatening one, he smirked. "I'm here to take you into custody, Kyouya Ootori, to be judged in Hades by Lord Enma-sama. You've missed your date so to speak." Spreading his hands out, he shrugged. "These things just happen, so if you wouldn't mind coming with me… or do I have to use an obscene amount of force to drag you along, huh?" He assaulted my sensibilities and his derision was astounding. I was getting angry.

"I was unaware of such a 'date'. Your system seems to be incredibly inadequate… its workers as well."

Takamine flicked the fingers of his right hand as if removing dirt from them. "Well there's a first. Releasing yourself from any blame in the matter and insulting me and my position in the same breath." Extending a hand out his expression turned catty, and glowing rings bound me in place. I fell over as my feet were suddenly pressed to each other. Enraged, I snapped, and those rings did the same.

Without warning, swaths of black blanketed my limbs and floated around me like a cowl of black cloth. Feeling the pull of whatever was sticking to me, I was seething anger and abruptly Takamine slammed through a wall. Actually that was four walls. Hovering, I smiled pleasantly down my nose at him. There was a large diagonal gash on his chest that went down to the bone of his ribcage, starting from his left shoulder to his right hip and he bled profusely. If I had been in the right state of mind, I would have been surprised that he hadn't been sliced in two. The pull was growing stronger as the room seemed to blot out the light coming from the windows. The… shadows were all reaching out, nuzzling against my limbs. They weren't alive, but they craved my attention.

The miscreant was standing now, unsteady on his feet. If I hadn't been as angry as I was now, how he was standing at all would have been interesting to find out. As it was, his fingers were leaving trails of color as they drew gestures into the air, muttering what sounded like sutras to himself continuously. With a yell, he ripped the sash of beads holding his hair up and clapped his hands together. A circle of fire formed around me, and it was shrinking. Those very same shadows recoiled from its intense light, unwilling or unable to get near it. I slammed what surrounded me into the ground and it sprang up on the other side crushing against him, snuffing the fire out indirectly.

I laughed cruelly. Weak. He was pathetically weak. "And you dared to disrespect me _and_ threaten me. If you wish to do your job, tell Enma to collect me himself." With a shove, I sent him through the outside wall of glass. There was a terrible keening sounding from the house, and it fell down and through me in a billowing cloud of dust and destruction.

As the debris settled, I sank to my knees. I couldn't recall ever losing my unflappable composure as I just did. I had only once raised my voice to Tamaki and no other… A sense of cold dread uncurled within me. I was losing myself as I had been told by the Elder, being left in the rift between realms. I looked above at the brilliant wash of a sunset pouring violet ink among red-orange in the sky, as servants followed by curious funeral attendees picked their way across the rubble that used to incorporate part of the house.

I truly was a lost soul.


	6. Sacrifice Bunt

_A/N: So this is the story's finale guys. Last chapter. :) I had alot of fun writing this one, and I turned to 3rd POV because alot of things were going on with Kyouya out of the picture, and I wanted the full effect. **Warning**: Just a teensy bit of Shounen-ai and a YnM character in a bit of OOC-ness, because things happened differently in this reality and he died instead of becoming insane. Thank you for reading, guys. And reviews always inspire me to write. I would like feedback to see who would be interested in a sequel crossover with alot less OHSHC-ness and more (AU) YnM-ness._

* * *

With his hair obscuring his face, Kyouya sat on his knees in the middle of the rubble down, his head drawn down at an odd angle. He wasn't sure where his glasses had gone during the fight but he didn't care at the moment. His hands limply laid palm up on his knees. He was faintly aware of his brothers' co-operating drunken shouts succeeding in evacuating everyone out of the remaining part of the house, and the sounds of cars leaving and trucks coming in.

* * *

In shock at the sudden instability of the Ootori Manor, Haruhi brushed a hand through her hair. "I'm glad nobody was hurt, though it was weird that it just collapsed like that." 

"Agreed." Hikaru and Kaoru conceded simultaneously.

Hunny gave a short, directed look to Mori who looked back knowingly. They both knew something had happened to cause Kyouya's energy to spike as if he were fighting the death god(s) who had been sent to retrieve him. Both of them had known that his 'cousins' were not as they appeared as the Elder had. The energy of the dead and the living were completely unfamiliar in comparison to a soul who had the touch of Enma's power within it.

Hugging his bunny, Hunny smiled. "Well as long as everyone is safe…"

Mori nodded in agreement. They all stood silently as the crowd of attendees conversed among themselves about the strangeness of the manor's collapse, until Haruhi broke the silence abruptly. "Where's Tamaki?"

They froze collectively.

"Oh shi—" "He must be under the rubble!" Kaoru cut his twin off.

"LISTEN UP EVERYONE!" Renge had pulled a speakerphone from somewhere, most likely from her purse. "TAMAKI, THE FAKE PRINCE, IS MISSING! WE MUST RECTIFY THIS IMMEDIATELY. I REPEAT. TAMAKI, THE FAKE PRINCE, IS MISSING!!!" Barking out orders left and right, she split the group of schoolmates into groups of four, four, and three. Appointing Haruhi, Nekozawa, and herself as the captains.

Shrouded in his black robe, Nekozawa held Beelzenef out, attempting to lead his team through his so-called Voodoo divination. Mori stood still eyes closed, sensing as best as he could, and trotted off in a different direction than his captain had pointed. Kasanoda laughed and followed him, while Nekozawa muttered something about cursing disobedient subordinates.

"Alright underlings!" Renge shouted at Komatsuzawa, head of the newspaper club, and his two lackeys, Chikage Ukyo and Tomochika Sakyo. "Over there! And start digging!"

"With what?" Sakyo stammered.

"Your _hands_ of course! The fake prince's life depends on this!!"

"Did it ever occur to you that he may be _dead_ already?" Komatsuzawa snapped irritably.

Suddenly she was brandishing a whip. She snapped it in her hands with practiced ease, her hair transforming into hissing snakes and her eyes alight with unimaginable terrors to come if they did not do as she bid.

With hurried apologies, they slowly moved bits of concrete around as best as they could, Renge shouting 'Heave, ho. Heave, ho' in the pretense to boost morale, but looking and sounding more like a slave driver.

Haruhi waved the Twins over to help her move rubble out of the way, but they were all straining with a large piece of the roof. "Hunny-senpai, a little help please?"

Hunny frowned and nodded putting his Bun-Bun aside to assist. It was useless; he couldn't sense Tamaki, dead or alive…

There was a clatter of rubble as many, many feet marched their way. The disgraced Ootori Private Police Squad was there, marking off the danger zones where live wires were present and making sure the water main leading to the house had been shut off. A few of them had search dogs, and the rest of them were handing out tools and gloves to the others and excavating the site in search of the missing heir to the Suou Empire.

* * *

Yoshio Ootori observed the voluntary organized help from his late son's schoolmates. He didn't know what had happened to his house, but the wise Elder Haninozuka had told him not to worry as his son wasn't the cause of the structure's failure. That was a relief. His first thought had been that his son was being vengeful for his 'unnecessarily cold and withdrawn parenting style' among other things, particularly the bit about his apparent inhumanity to force his children out of their dreams and into his 'brutal expectations and limitless high standards'. 

"Father-sama." It was his only daughter; _Fuyumi_, his mind helpfully supplied.

"Yes?"

She took a deep breath, probably to calm her nerves. "I don't mean to intrude, but I overheard that Kyouya-san had sent letters to his friends and was wondering if the same were true for you?"

"I did receive such a letter." He hadn't the heart to say anything more.

"Then, don't take his words as anything more than a well-executed critique of one's weaknesses. He probably meant well." She was vehement in her tone and body language. He was half-tempted to believe her, but knew that was only because he wanted to hear that his son didn't despise him. Then he stopped mid-thought.

"Fuyumi-san, how did you know what the letter contained?"

"I guessed. I only know that little brother had his moods where he'd write what he actually thought down on paper before tearing it to pieces and burning it. Most of the ones I caught glimpses of were directed towards you in various titles like 'To Father, the man I hate the most' or 'Fwd: To whomever is the head of the Ootoris, give me up for adoption please.' My favorite though was 'Dear Dad, I don't want the company or help support it. Please keep it for yourself. But how can I tell you without hurting your pride and confidence?' Is that something he wrote?" Her expression was sincerely concerned.

Life was re-filling the world around him in sharp, intense color. Somewhat dizzy from relief, he laughed hoarsely. He really hadn't known his son at all, having known only his seemingly obedient well-mannered nature. It was as his youngest son had written. All the preparation and expectation he had placed in him had only created a great span of distance between them. Gazing over the determined looks of those who had known his son as they searched for the lost heir, he observed quietly.

Kyouya had commented that the only person who had known and understood his truest nature and ambitions was that bumbling youth of a Suou. The head of the Ootoris smirked letting the unintentional hurt slip away. His son's unspoken request had been written so subtly that he had missed it in his grief. Solidifying his father's convictions that the young Suou should succeed his grandmother, Kyouya had reached beyond death to prod his father to rally others in Tamaki's favor. Once the matriarch passed away, things would become very interesting.

Thanking his daughter with renewed pride, he walked to his rival of many years, tipping his head in courtesy. "Your son will be found, rest assured."

High-strung, Yuzuru Suou nodded grief evident on his face. "Living or not." He put on a grim smile. "In either case, I believe our running bet has ended in a draw."

"Something petty like that… Suou-san, you should be ashamed of yourself." His old friend gently reprimanded him. They shared a moment of serious expression, before being interrupted by the crossdressing father of the daughter they had equally wanted to marry their sons to. "What running bet?"

The two patriarchs shared a small laugh, masterfully leading the conversation away from answering that question as the Hitachiin mother and grandmother listened in and joined in readily. The Elder Haninozuka stood near them silently, facing towards where the floor-to-ceiling glass wall had been, his mind elsewhere and his aide at his side. Ootori-kun had destroyed the nearly immortal guide who had been deployed to send him to the next realm in a stunning blast of power. _This will bode ill for his judgment_, he thought mournfully, not able to fathom the punishment that the God of Death had in store for the young Ootori soul.

* * *

When the yelling began, Kyouya blinked out of his momentary shock, listening to the commotion from habit. Someone had a speakerphone, and what he had heard alarmed him. Remembering the direction Tamaki had left in, he glided towards what was left of his old room. He focused on Tamaki's 'feel' with his shadows, trying to find him. 

He discovered that he could sense him, but it wasn't in any particular direction he could hone in on. He puzzled it out for a moment. Tamaki felt close, yet at the same time he wasn't here at all. _Where is he?_

* * *

Tamaki was floating within nothingness. Confused and disoriented he pushed his hands down, and finding resistance set his feet on the 'ground'. 

"Helloooooooo??" He called out. No echo met him as if the very darkness absorbed his voice. When his walking didn't seem to be getting anywhere, he stopped and sat back down to think. Concentrating here seemed to be as hard to do as getting one's voice to carry. _I remember…_ His eyes widened as memories of the ceiling and the walls around him crumbling in replayed in his mind. The Ootori manor had caved in.

"Am I dead?" He said to himself.

"Tamaki?"

He about had a heart attack at the sound of his best friend's voice, jerking around to face him. Kyouya hovered then set his feet down on the not-ground, looking around perplexed at his environment.

"KYOUYAAAAA!!" With a sob of happiness, Tamaki threw himself at him and… suddenly he was gone and Tamaki was freefalling until he slowed again starting where he had first left off. Floating. _Have I lost my mind? _He mused sardonically to himself.

Back again, Kyouya glided effortlessly turning himself to match the direction Tamaki was standing. Apparently gravity did not apply rationally to wherever he was.

"…. You can see me." Kyouya stated dryly in amusement.

Blinking furiously to assure himself that he wasn't seeing an apparition, Tamaki, with a laugh, jumped at him again, clinging when he made contact. "Of course I can!! …. But you're dead.. so this means.. I died too? Am I dead or am I crazy? Because I think I'd rather be dead than in an insane asylum for hallucinating dead people. What happened to your glasses? Can you see alright? I hope you can.. I mean, it'd be terrible if you lost them when you couldn't replace them."

Kyouya waited patiently for him to stop babbling, easily answering the relevant questions. He could see fine enough without his glasses though he missed their familiar weight. "I don't think you're dead and I think I accidentally pulled you here." He didn't remember consciously doing any such thing, but his shadows pulsed around him in their realm almost pleased with themselves if he could judge the formlessness.

He received a confused look. Then Tamaki shook his head as if to clear it. "Never mind about that, I'm just glad I get to see you. I wanted to apologize. For, you know, the outing and the ball…"

Sighing softly, Kyouya tried to keep the irritated frown off his face. "This incident was hardly your fault. The brain aneurysm would have killed me eventually. If anything, I was spared days of agony because I would have stubbornly and persistently thought my headaches were nothing more than minor migraines that came and went."

Tamaki sadly glanced at him. That's when he became self-conscious of his hands still holding onto his best friend's arms; he dropped them to his sides as if he had a delayed reaction to touching hot embers. Placing space between them by stepping back, he had a dumb grin on his face, but nothing off-topic followed his supposed mood swing. His heart was rending into pieces and he had nothing happy to say. The tears had started flowing down his cheeks as he grinned at Kyouya.

After a moment of severe discomfort watching him cry like that, he awkwardly wrapped Tamaki into a hug without saying anything at all. Tamaki's right hand clamped onto the back of his uniform jacket, holding back the sobs and failing.

It all abruptly became clear. Pieces of a puzzle he had never known to exist until the clues had begun to fit together at the banquet completed the picture. He shifted uncomfortably, glad that Tamaki had stopped crying. However, it seemed deficient to leave things as they were. Too many possibilities had been left unchecked by his realization. He pulled back slightly.

His thumb on Tamaki's chin and forefinger under it, he lifted Tamaki's head off of his chest. "Your grandmother be damned, you should never deny who you are."

He smirked when the skin under his fingers turned warm and bright red. Inwardly, he was in quiet shock that such an obvious thing as Tamaki's crush on him had been completely missed by all his observations. "I knew everything about everyone of importance, yet I was so farsighted that I overlooked you."

Leaning back and straightening his suit, Tamaki grimaced unable to make eye contact. "You didn't miss anything. I didn't realize it myself until days after your death. When I couldn't—" He aborted explaining himself when Kyouya's lips touched his softly. It ended after a brief moment, but his breath had caught in that sweet moment and his heart was still racing.

"Do not follow me through a premature death, Tamaki." Pulling an unresisting Tamaki to bend a little, those same lips lightly grazed his forehead as he whispered, "Goodbye."

Without further ado, Tamaki was plopped back in reality with the sounds of people digging through rubble a short distance away. Collapsing onto his hands and knees he felt like he had been cheated somehow.

Yoshio's living sons both more than tipsy and in no shape to do physical labor had been bantering about how fast their grandparents and Kyouya's mother had fled the funeral with her father in reluctant tow and curious to know where their cousins had disappeared to. Upon Tamaki's reappearance, they both had delayed reactions. Kyouya's eldest brother finally spoke slurring slightly, smiling as if someone had told him a funny joke. "Suou-san, you're underage. You should know better than to drink." He laughed.

The other brother more sober, showed concern. "Suou-san, are you going to be ill?"

"No," he gasped out quietly as he began to weep. Throwing his head back to the dark sky, he sat back, howling in painful frustration, and rocked.

Both brothers looked at him not particularly sure what to do with him, understanding that a man only cried maybe once or twice in their life like that. They respected his pain with silence, helping each other up to give him some privacy.

Recognizing the cries of his son and overjoyed that he was alive, he waved EMTs to follow him getting there before his friends. "Tamaki! Where does it hurt?" He knelt hands on the back of Tamaki's bent form, not noticing any torn clothing or injuries and relieved because of that. However, his son's loud sobbing tore at his heart. Of all the times he comforted a young Tamaki as he cried, none had moved him to shed tears of sympathy. He knew that his son's heart had been broken by the loss of his best friend.

His friends stood around Tamaki quietly watching, and when Haruhi knelt next to him he threw himself at her clinging hard to her petite frame, inadvertently rejecting his father. Surprised she patted his head wrapped her arms around him, easing the onslaught of tears to rough sniffling. Rubbing at his eyes, he acquiesced to the exam that the emergency medics wanted. His friends and family all knew what had happened.

Tamaki had begun to grieve.

* * *

To his surprise a tear blinked out of his eye and slipped down Kyouya's cheek as he walked away, the gaps surrounding Tamaki closing behind him by his former schoolmates. Shadows followed him in a silent stream. "I missed a lot it seems…" 

"It happens."

Kyouya's eyes scanned over the silver-haired short boy with queer silver eyes and pale, pale skin. His fake cousin must have had colored contacts and a wig on to hide his strange coloring.

"You simply can't know everything there is to know about the world. Any knowledge you have is still incomplete and will forever be that way." The boy paused and turned his head, and then his body and bowed deeply. "I'm here to guide you as a minion of Lord Enma. Will you allow me to send you to judgment?"

Silence was Kyouya's answer and after another head-to-toe look he bowed though not as deeply, face dry, and nodded in consent. He was grateful to be able to rest. The past few hours had been draining and he was very tired.

The boy held out his hand, tilting his head in an understanding smile.

In return, Kyouya lightly placed his hand in his, and just like that disappeared from the mortal realm.

The boy sighed in calm mirth. "Now that that's over with…" He took out a pack of cigarettes and lit one smoking. He looked only to be 12 years of age; it was the age at which he had died. He stood there the wind rustling his hair and blowing the smoke chaotically around him. "I suppose I'm going to have to find a new partner." Humming to himself, he didn't seem to mind that Takamine had been annihilated.

_Kyouya Ootori, is it? I wonder if Lord Enma-sama will entrap you too._

With a dark chuckle, Kazutaka Muraki disappeared into the night.


End file.
